Chapter 160: The Astral Realm

"What are you doing?"

Zhou Tian watched as the Holy Demon fiddled with a pile of stones in the void, runes occasionally emerging from them, and asked with a puzzled expression.

"There is a formation of the Celestial Pass in this void. To avoid triggering it, we must smuggle our way through."

The Holy Demon replied without turning his head. He arranged those black-golden stones into a peculiar pattern in the void, with rune chains connecting them to one another.

This formation appeared to be quite profound, as beads of sweat dripped from the Holy Demon's forehead.

"Sigh, when we were fighting each other earlier, why didn't you step in?"

Idle and with nothing better to do, Zhou Tian asked the Holy Demon. They had fought so fiercely, yet the Holy Demon had never shown up to lend a hand.

"I had a deal to make with a certain leader, so I couldn't fight on your behalf. It was already fortunate that I didn't help them deal with you."

The Holy Demon seemed to have reached a critical moment. A golden curtain appeared to materialize in the void, with massive runes swimming within it. The small stones embedded themselves deeply into it, and the rune chains locked together, forcibly tearing open a fissure.

"Let's go!" the Holy Demon said urgently, scooping up Zhou Tian and instantly darting through the fissure. The moment they passed through, those stones instantly crumbled into dust.

"As expected of a formation worthy of being inscribed upon the Celestial Pass—truly terrifying. Even a Realm Master-class formation-breaking stone could barely sustain it for a split second."

The Holy Demon sighed, his face somewhat pale, having expended immense mental effort just to embed the formation-breaking stone.

Although the highest-grade formations of the Celestial Pass were of the Heavenly Venerable tier, once activated, formations of that caliber consumed a massive amount of resources and could not remain active at all times. Therefore, they generally only activated Realm Master-tier formations, though these still represented the absolute pinnacle of that tier.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to just leave directly through the Celestial Pass? It's not like I said I wouldn't go with you." Zhou Tian said casually.

"Heh."

The Holy Demon offered no reply, laughing perfunctorily twice. With a wave of his hand, a brass-colored warship materialized in the void before them. It was extremely archaic, even mottled, with axe marks and sword scars still lingering on its surface, bearing testimony to past grand battles.

Zhou Tian awkwardly rubbed the bridge of his nose. If they had really left through the Celestial Pass, he suspected someone would have immediately had the Holy Demon suppressed and executed on the spot.

As they boarded the ancient brass ship, a female voice rang out:

"Master."

A woman clothed in colorful garments emerged from the cabin. With refined features and fair skin, she lowered her gaze slightly.

Zhou Tian raised an eyebrow. The woman was clearly addressing the Holy Demon.

"Master? Holy Demon, I didn't take you for that kind of person."

His tone carried a teasing edge; after all, reaching this point, the Holy Demon wouldn't just kill him out of hand.

"She is that Nine-Tailed Phoenix Bird."

The Holy Demon glanced sideways at Zhou Tian and said indifferently.

"That Phoenix Bird?"

Zhou Tian cast a strange look toward the woman's lower abdomen.

The woman showed no reaction whatsoever. Although she appeared youthful, who knew how many years she had actually lived? Naturally, she wouldn't be perturbed by a mere glance from Zhou Tian.

"Go pick a room. It will still take some time before we reach the borders of the Nine Provinces," the Holy Demon said.

Zhou Tian shrugged and followed the woman—transformed from the Nine-Tailed Phoenix Bird—into the cabin.

The Holy Demon also stepped inside. The ancient brass warship trembled slightly, turning into a streak of light that vanished into the void.

...

The ancient brass warship cut through space at blistering speed. Several days later, they reached their destination.

Zhou Tian and the Holy Demon stood on the deck of the ancient brass ship. Gazing at the scene in the void before him, Zhou Tian was utterly stunned.

Massive formation patterns slithered across his field of vision. Each one was exceptionally thick and blazed with golden light, and every single floating rune within them was as massive as a primordial divine mountain, radiating brilliantly like the great sun.

"How are we getting past this? Relying on that broken formation-breaking stone of yours?"

Zhou Tian turned his head to ask. By this time, his resurrection count had long since refreshed, and his skills were once again usable. On the ancient brass ship, he had contemplated several times whether he should just pick a fight with the Holy Demon, but he had suppressed the urge each time.

Although the Holy Demon's condition was peculiar—possessing a dual soul in a single body, which generally made him weaker than his own cultivation realm—he possessed that bizarre fusion state, and Zhou Tian lacked the confidence to kill him within thirty-two seconds.

Moreover, his deaths over the past few days would have been wasted with no real opportunity to court death effectively. As for asking the Holy Demon for help, that thought hadn't even crossed his mind; most likely, after receiving help a few times, the Holy Demon would have completely figured him out.

"This grand formation is renowned throughout the entire starry realm; mere parlor tricks like boundary-breaking stones are utterly useless here."

The Holy Demon shook his head.

"Then how about we split our belongings? You go back to your Gao Lao Zhuang, and I'll return to my Prince Qin's Mansion?"

Zhou Tian offered a suggestion.

The Holy Demon had already grown immune to the inexplicable phrases that frequently popped out of Zhou Tian's mouth. Ignoring him, he pulled a golden scroll from the void and gently presented it forward.

"Amitabha..."

Accompanied by a chant of Buddha, the scroll unrolled automatically. A golden phantom materialized, sitting cross-legged in the void—a Buddha.

"Luotian Temple?"

Zhou Tian recalled what Zhou Changsheng had said about the Holy Demon having an ambiguous and tangled relationship with Luotian Temple.

The Buddha phantom extended a finger and tapped lightly. The unimaginably massive formation in the void rippled, and a microscopic portal split open. The Buddha phantom dissolved, and the scroll vanished as well—it was a one-time-use item.

The Holy Demon brought Zhou Tian closer, and only then did Zhou Tian notice that the portal appearing on the formation possessed an additional layer of golden light. However, the Holy Demon clearly paid it no heed and signaled Zhou Tian to proceed.

"Are you certain nothing will go wrong?" Zhou Tian pointed at the golden light upon the portal and asked.

"It's fine. That is merely something to verify cultivation realms. My scroll can only permit those below the Realm Master level to pass through."

The Holy Demon had the woman—transformed from the phoenix bird—go through first. She passed through as if stepping through a layer of water and vanished.

"Alright then."

Zhou Tian nodded and stepped through as well. There was no unusual sensation, save for a feeling of a gentle, lukewarm substance brushing across his body. When he reappeared, he had no idea where he was; it seemed to be the starry sky, as brilliant specks of light resembling stars twinkled in the distance, while everything behind him was a sheet of absolute nothingness—no formation was to be seen at all.

The phoenix bird guarded Zhou Tian, preventing him from being exposed to the harshness of the void.

"Once we're out of the Nine Provinces, things will be easier to handle."

The Holy Demon appeared beside them at some point, pulling out a purplish-golden card that shimmered faintly with engraved symbols. Zhou Tian felt a strange sense of déjà vu, finding it oddly familiar.

The Holy Demon flicked the card in his hand. The card vibrated slightly, but nothing happened. Zhou Tian felt somewhat baffled, wondering what trick this fellow was trying to pull this time.

Before he could voice his question, the void before them suddenly fluctuated, and a creature clad in bizarre attire appeared. It possessed a mouth and a nose, but right between its brows was a single vertical eye encircled by rings of patterns.

"Tongtian Company at your service!"

The creature bowed slightly. Though its language was strange, Zhou Tian instantly understood its meaning.